Tuesday, August 30, 2011

08/30/2011
The nation hasn’t yet
recovered from the surprise that Noynoy pulled in that secret meeting
held with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman, Al Haj
Murad Ebrahim, in Japan that many saw as a revival of the scuttled
Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which sought to
create the unconstitutional Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), now
Malacañang has sprung another whammy in the $50-billion joint
exploration agreement that may be brought up in Noynoy’s visit to China
starting Aug. 30.

The agreement sounds like another rerun of
another controversial past deal. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking
Agreement with China during the Arroyo administration was assailed as
being grossly tilted toward China’s since it allowed the exploration of
areas which are not part of the disputed territories. The Senate then
said that going through with the agreement would be an impeachable
offense on the part of the President.

The Palace has not released
any details on the agreement, merely giving an assurance that the
administration would assure that the agreement would be fair on the
benefits to be derived from it..... MORE

08/30/2011
Strange are truly the ways of
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) — despite the country being under
a claimed honest and transparent Aquino administration.

One would
have thought that, having Noynoy appointees to head the Comelec, the
electorate can now hope to have a clean poll body and clean polls.

But
it appears that no such thing is likely to happen — especially as the
2013 senatorial polls loom, with, no doubt, Noynoy wanting to ensure the
victory of his senatorial bets — which means bets largely coming from
the Liberal Party ranks.

While a joint probe body headed by both
the Department of Justice and the Comelec will be conducting hearings on
the alleged 2004 and 2007 election fraud and the designated members
named, the Comelec chairman apparently had a change of mind and pulled
out its former law department director Ferdinand Rafanan as member of
the joint Comelec-DoJ panel..... MORE

Recall
that we never really hear anything from Iggy Arroyo. Not a peep, on
issues big or small. He just really creeps out of the woodwork whenever
there’s need to defend the bro’. And look here, for this time around,
he’s not even well, there’s talk about a serious ailment that needed to
be treated all the way in London. Yet he broke free from the treatment,
albeit momentarily, to confer with lawyers, and thereafter issue
statements clearing utol of anything and everything, along the lines of
“Whatever it is, it ain’t Jose Miguel whodunit, I dunnit.”

So,
‘ayan. The helicopters Sen. Ping Lacson’s witnesses say were actually
owned by the former First Gentleman and used in his wife’s 2004 campaign
and then sold to the Philippine National Police as brand new? Ex-FG
knew nothing about that, because it was all Iggy’s doing. And then Iggy
proceeds to tell an unlikely tale of choppers not really owned by them,
but merely leased. So on and so forth, ad nauseum, with Iggy clearly
expecting us to believe him..... MORE

08/30/2011
This outsider has it on good
authority that in the recent past, former president Joseph Estrada has
developed an admiration for Claro M. Recto, who over the course of his
career evolved from traditional politician to consistent nationalist.
Had Recto’s nationalism begun to work its magic earlier, there would
have been no question of Mr. Estrada attempting to remove the
nationalist safeguards from the Constitution during his abbreviated
presidency. It would seem, however, that son Jinggoy has yet to fall
under the Recto spell, for he is calling for the “outdated charter” to
be amended.
Another senator supporting a review of the economic
provisions is Antonio Trillanes IV. According to the Philippine Star
report of Aug. 16, his main interest seems to lie in securing a
reduction in domestic shipping rates (presumably by the introduction of
foreign competition, although this is far from clear). He also argues
that Congress should discuss and vote on the amendments one by one, in
the same manner as normal legislation, thus obviating the need for a
constitutional convention or constituent assembly, either of which might
be railroaded into a sweeping revision of the Charter.
It is
surprising to see Trillanes’ name associated with revision or
elimination of the economic provisions because he is held to be a
staunch nationalist. Indeed, when I interviewed Sonny Melencio earlier
this year for my current book project (the third and final volume of a
history of the Philippine left; the first volume was published by UP
Press in 2007 as Forcing the Pace, while the second, A Movement Divided,
will be issued by the same publisher very shortly), he recalled how,
when he had visited Trillanes in detention, the latter had expressed
opposition to socialism on the grounds that it was “foreign.” So too,
Melencio pointed out, is nationalism, meaning that some ideologies,
although originated in specific geographical/historical circumstances,
can have universal application.
.... MORE

08/30/2011
SYDNEY — It’s more than 40
years since Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, but
his memories of the historic flight remain as undimmed as his passion
for further exploration of space.

The Apollo 11 commander, now
aged 81, relived the 1969 mission that enthralled the world as he
watched Google’s new high-definition images of the moon in Australia
last week.

The pictures, available on YouTube since May but which
Armstrong said he had only just seen, show Apollo 11’s landing spot,
including the fuel cell left behind which it also used as a launch pad.

“So
for the sceptics about whether we ever landed on the moon — this is a
pretty good indication that somebody’s done it,” he quipped to a
business audience that had paid hundreds of dollars to hear him speak..... MORE

08/30/2011
There was this recent
disappearing act of no less than the President of the Republic: It was
called a “visit.” It was done “abroad.” It was held “secret” in nature
and objective.

Thus it came to pass that there was a time when the
country had a President who could be then rightfully considered
“missing” by the People of the Philippines — until the rare phenomenon
was eventually brought to their attention. The cat is out of the bag.
The issue is big. The implication is profound.

Briefly said, true
or false, the distinct occasion brought to fore a distinct concern about
the distinct matter of a “substate” in Mindanao — or something the
like. The reactions were serious and immediate. Those indirectly
concerned registered their reservations. Those directly concerned came
up with their own convictions.

Thus came to pass the huge and
shrieking headline of a well-known national daily echoing the choice
occasioned by the said “visit.” In other words, some kind of an
alternative was given to the Malacañang occupant: “Popularity or Peace.”
Translation: Disregard the establishment of the “substate” and remain
“popular.” See to it the “substate” becomes a reality and “peace” would
be the fruit thereof..... MORE

By Mario J. Mallari 08/30/2011
A supposed
renegade member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Ameril
Umbra Kato vowed yesterday to destroy peace efforts between the
government and the secessionist group as the main MILF negotiators
questioned the government’s offered formula of a “Bangsamoro Commission”
in its proposed draft peace agreement, claiming such does not provide
real autonomy to the Moro people.

Surrounded by a small band of
ragtag but ruthless followers, hardline Muslim rebel commander Kato
vowed to destroy the latest peace efforts.

Decades of fighting
have neither wearied nor diluted the resolve of the Saudi
Arabian-educated guerrilla, and he warns he remains willing to kill and
die in his quest to achieve an independent Muslim homeland in the
resource-rich Mindanao.

Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel
secretariat, meanwhile, said the government of the Philippines’ (GPH)
proposed draft agreement was not meant to allow Bangsamoro people
self-determination being pursued by the MILF..... MORE

Earlier
denials of an impending top-level revamp at the Bureau of Customs
(BoC), notwithstanding, President Aquino yesterday announced that he had
sacked Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez who came under fire
following the disclosure that 2,000 container vans vanished into thin
air right under the nose of the Customs chief.

In pre-recorded
interview over Radio Mindanao Network, Aquino disclosed that he had
fired Alvarez and had found a replacement for him without giving a name,
bolstering lingering speculations the President’s action has long been a
done deal although he tried very hard to deny it.

Aquino’s announcement came a day before his scheduled five-day state visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Alvarez, meanwhile, said he will start packing his bag after Aquino confirmed his dimissal..... MORE

08/30/2011
Filipinos who are overstaying
after performing “Umrah,” a form of pilgrimage, are given until Sept.
14 to leave Saudi Arabia, the largest Islamic state in the Middle East
and where the two Holy Mosques are located, without being penalized,
according to a Filipino migrants right group.

Migrante-Middle East
regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said last April 27 the
Saudi Ministry of Interior announced that a Royal amnesty was granted to
expatriates who have violated residency rules and overstayed as
reflected on their ‘umrah’ visas on Sept. 22, 2010 for a period of six
months or up to March 23, 2011. This has been extended up to Sept. 14,
2011.

“Filipinos who were overstaying after performing ‘Umrah’
have barely 15 days to avail themselves of the Royal pardon. They could
leave Saudi Arabia without any corresponding penalty, monetary and weeks
of detention at the deportation center till Sept. 14,” Monterona added.

Monterona
said overstaying Filipinos can directly proceed to any Saudi
international airports and will only be required by Saudi immigration
authorities to present his or her passport along with the expired
‘umrah’ visa and airplane ticket..... MORE

A
proposition has been laid down in the Senate where government
procurement transactions are being required to be video-taped, in the
hope of preventing and discouraging corruption.

Sen. Antonio
Trillanes IV proposed to make mandatory the video recording of all the
meetings and proceedings starting from the level of the bids and awards
committee (BAC) to ensure transparency and honesty in the execution of
government policies.

Five years since the enactment of the
Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act 9184 is still plagued
with collusion, abuse of discretionary criteria, malfeasance,
misfeasance, and other forms of corruption, the senator noted.

“It is high time that we use video recording in all the procurement
transactions of the government to prevent corruption issues like the
anomalous purchase of helicopters by the PNP (Philippine National
Police) officials,” Trillanes said..... MORE

In
a sign of the times, postal officials yesterday said its cash- strapped
operations could no longer provide free “snail mail” service to the
country’s judicial system and asked the Supreme Court (SC) to formally
review the “franking privilege” it enjoys.

Despite recent rules
allowing electronic evidence and other advances in paperless
documentation, the bulk of pleadings before the courts are still
paper-based copies sometimes requiring up to 11 copies of a single
pleading.

The Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) is now asking the
high court to share in the cost of transporting the franked mail by
air..... MORE

08/30/2011
Multinational companies
manufacturing condoms and other contraceptives are behind the push for
the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, a lawmaker from Manila
said yesterday.

According to Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, the
multinational companies, mostly American pharmaceutical firms, are
expected to earn some P200 million every day from the sale of
contraceptives in the country.

Bagatsing,
a member of a congressional bloc opposing the bill, said the Philippine
government is being dictated upon by the United States through the
Millennium Development Goals. He added the Philippines has nothing to
gain from the bill, except to buy and give out condoms and other
contraceptives..... MORE